The magnetism learning experience is part of a unit on forces and one of three lessons on magnetism. In this learning experience, the students focus on magnetism. The book The Mystery of Magnets and the BrainPOP Jr. video clip activates the students’ prior knowledge on magnetic forces. The major ideas that the students discover are what objects are magnetic, what magnetic objects have in common, and what nonmagnetic objects have in common.
For this learning experience: There are similarities among both magnetic objects and nonmagnetic objects.
For the unit: Different forces cause the transfer of different forms of energy.
What are the similarities among both magnetic and nonmagnetic objects?
How do forces act over distances?
What is magnetism?
What objects does a magnet attract?
What are the similarities among these attracted objects?
What is common among objects that a magnet does not attract?
Prior to Implementation
During and After Instruction
Magnet- a piece of metal or stone that can attract iron or steel.
Magnetic- displaying magnetic properties.
Magnetic field- a region around a magnetic material or a moving electric charge within which the force of magnetism acts.
Magnetic poles- the ends of a magnet where the magnetic field is the strongest.
Attract- to pull together.
(When two magnets are placed together with unlike poles)
Repel- to push away.
(When two magnets are placed together with like poles)
I taught this learning experience to a first grade class at Heritage Heights Elementary. Heritage Heights is located in the Sweet Home School District in Amherst. The classroom where I taught this learning experience is a general education classroom which contains twenty-one students. Six of the students are girls; the remaining fifteen students are males. There is a student with mental retardation, a student with a traumatic brain injury, and a student with autism. Approximately half of the students come from a low socioeconomic status and five of whom are English as second language learners. Due to this wide variety of students, there are two classroom aides in the room. One aide is a one-to-one aide for the student with mental retardation. The other aide circulates the room and assists any student who is having difficulty.
Since the classroom rules (Appendix A) and procedures (Appendix B) have been enforced since the first day of school, the students’ behaviors generally do not get in the way of their learning. However, the student with a traumatic brain injury does possess self-injurious behavior when he is asked to work on something he is not interested in doing. Furthermore, the student with mental retardation oftentimes tries to mock the behaviors that he observes. Also, the floor plan (Appendix C) is set up so the students with Individualized Education Plans (I.E.P.’s) are sat towards the front of the room so the teachers can keep a closer eye on them. Finally, the more talkative students are split up among the four tables in the classroom. In doing so, the students remain more on task.